Typically, musical percussion instruments are instruments which make sounds when they are struck, shaken, or scraped. Often, percussion instruments are used as part of orchestras and bands to make rhythm and sound. The guira in particular is a type of handheld musical percussion instrument which consists of a metal sheet and a scraper which a user may combine to make a beat. Often, the metal sheet of a guira is embodied as a metal cylinder which has a textured surface, which may be described as knurling, ridges, striations, or grooves. The metal cylinder usually incorporates a handle so that a user may hold the instrument with one hand while they play it. The user holds a comb-like scraper in the other hand which is used to strike and grate the metal cylinder's textured surface to make a beat. However, this embodiment of a guira has several drawbacks. As a result of having a handle which a user needs to hold by hand as they play the instrument, the metal cylinder is limited in size and weight, therefore, it has limited amount of textured surface, or playing area. For these reasons, development of guiras and percussion attachments which employ different methods for a user to grasp the instrument while playing have emerged. These efforts, however, have resulted in the creation of guiras and percussion attachments that are often inefficient at providing both an alternative method of grasping the instrument while also expanding the playing area.
Several known percussion attachments which have a guira-like surface are aimed at attaching to stringed musical instruments. These devices are typically used alongside the stringed musical instrument. However, the primary objective of these devices is usually to guard and protect the stringed musical instrument body, only with a secondary objective to produce a beat when struck. Therefore, these devices do not incorporate an alternative method of holding the handheld musical percussion instrument while also simultaneously expanding the surface area of a guira.
Other known percussion attachments which have a guira-like surface can attach to bowed stringed musical instruments and are intended to be struck with the bow. These devices are aimed at producing percussion sounds but also have an objective of protecting the stringed musical instrument body or maintaining the structural integrity of the stringed musical instrument. However, first, these devices are played with a bow and not a scraper, thereby producing an entirely different musical sound effect. Moreover, these devices do not address the need of producing a device which incorporates both an alternative method of grasping the device while also expanding the surface area of a guira. In fact, the surface area of these percussion attachments is usually much smaller than that of a guira.
Many other known guira devices incorporate a guira and a shaker, or maracas, within a singular device. However, these devices are designed to accomplish the objective of combining both percussion instruments into one and not expanding the playing surface area while also providing an alternate means of holding the device.
Therefore, a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art as discussed above.